Hello, and thanks for joining us for another episode of Mid American gardener.

I'm your host Tinisha, Spain.

And joining me in the studio today are two of our panelists who are going to be answering a lot of your questions and they brought some great things from that garden to show and talk about.

So we'll have them introduce themselves and then we're going to jump right in.

So John, we'll start with you.

Okay.

I'm John Bodensteiner.

I'm a vermillion County Master Gardener.

And I enjoy just about any kind of plant there is.

It's written doesn't even have to be green.

Some of the plants are not green.

So I've got some silver ones.

Oh, any of those.

I enjoy growing.

Hello.

I'm Ella Maxwell.

I'm also a master gardener up in Tazwell County, also a horticulturist and I've had a long career in the garden center.

Arena, and I have a large yard.

I like trees and shrubs and especially perennials and I brought some showing tells as well.

You're gonna be in trouble with Karen when she sees the show.

Yeah, yeah.

All right, let's come in together next time.

Okay, but people are gonna say, Ella without care.

Gotta feel so.

Alright, we're gonna jump in with some questions because you guys sent in some great ones.

And John is going to tackle question 37 This is about Holly shrubs, and I'm gonna paraphrase just a bit.

This is Anna Joe mount.

She says the prior owners of her house planted male and female holly trees.

Last year she had some issues with fungus.

So she treated and cut them back and is wondering should she expect a significant reduction in the number of maturing berries this year?

Does each flower have to be visited by an insect or is the holly partly pollinated by wind so is last year's activity going to affect this year's growth and fruiting?

Well, being Hollies are dioecious which means they have a male plant and a female plant.

It could.

But one male tree shrub can pollinate many female, depending on the size, and how close it is.

I have did some research and they said that one male can pollinate up to 20 Most of the time you want a three to one five to one ratio, but the bees and the flies that that visit the male plant, if you've ever seen a bee and the back legs are all yellow, that's the pollen that has collected so it's not going to go to the male plant and then go visit the female plant and then have to go back to the male plant to get more pollen, there's so much pollen on that male on on the the bee that it can provide, you know, do many pollination at the same time.

Now, one thing for the you know, being she trimmed back her her male plant, she's going to want to make sure that has lots of moisture, and maybe even a little bit of fertilizer, you know, I wouldn't overdo it not a lot of growing not not nitrogen, but maybe a little bit of 1010 10 or something like that.

And just a little bit just to make sure that make sure that she has and I'm sure she she did this, that she has the same species so that they're flowering at the same time.

If she was getting berries before, she probably does.

And you know, the kind of like blueprints and blueprints is that the same you know, because if you get different species of holly, one will bloom this weekend, or this month, and then the other one will bloom later.

And as far as air pollination very unlikely, the pollen on on Holly is very sticky.

And so it's unlikely that they'll get wind pollination, each flower on the female does have to be pollinated individually, but the bee is going to go in there and get that nectar and, and like I say it doesn't have to go back to the male.

Holly to get more.

Right.

And just commenting from the garden center standpoint and production is that in the past they had the plants as separate sold them as male and female and you can still find that, but it was revolutionary when they put the two compatibles together.

They called them the royal family or, you know, some kind of family name.

And that's where they actually took small male and female plants together in the same pot and then grew them out.

That ensured that you were always going to have berries because people wanted to know, well how far apart can they be?

And it can be up to about 200 feet actually.

But again, like John had said you don't need that much mail.

You know, I mean, no one's gonna do it.

You just want to make sure it's good to healthy.

Yeah, that it's, you know, and moisture is the big thing, even for the berries and for the pollen producer.

Both they you want to make sure that once it gets dry that, especially during pollination time whenever it's flowering, that they have enough moisture so that pollen is produced.

Okay.

All right, well, you brought some pretties with you, box fullest.

Okay, where do you want to start?

The first thing I want to talk about is knowing the name of the plant and finding out the name of the plants that you have.

Because many of the questions that people send to us, they don't know what they have.

So the other thing is, when does it flower?

And what kind of seeds could it make that maybe I would want?

And so right now is the best time to collect to perennial flowers.

One is the hellebore.

So you know, I love hellebores.

Yes.

And so I have a paper sack I haven't labeled.

And I have just cut off these flower.

These were the flower stalks.

And you can see that many of the double flowers won't set viable seed.

But you can see this enclosed seed pod here, inside here.

And you can also see if we get a close up of this a little later, how it's opened up.

But there are dark little seeds in here.

And so I'm going to store this just cool and dry in my garage.

And then there's going to be seeds here in the bottom and then I'll be able to separate those.

And then I can either feed them immediately because they are kind of viable, or they can you know you can winter sow them or you could sell them out naturally.

And question Yes.

Do you have to let the so there are some copies that I would like to collect?

Do they have to dry out completely on the plant in the ground?

Or can I go ahead and chop those down and do that the same way and let them dry upside down?

And let the seed pods open?

Right?

You can do that.

Yeah, I thought I had to wait till the little windows opened?

Well, yes, you want to maybe wait until the little windows open.

But you want to make sure that you get them before that, you know seat head and they shake out so you know you can go.

The other plant that I have a lot of is a native now the hellebore wasn't.

But this is the celandine Poppy.

And it's an early spring bloomer and I oh yeah, here's the little yellow, yellow, beautiful yellow flower.

And then they make these pendulous little seed pods.

They also have a sap that stains orange.

So I wear disposable gloves because right now, I have enough of these.

But, you know, I always can share them.

And so these little pods actually will split open kind of like Balsam and the when they're ripe.

So again, I have you can see the little, the little seeds inside.

So again, I have them in a paper sack, they're labeled, I'm gonna let them dry, the capsule will dry out and split up and then I will have these wonderful seeds.

Again, you can see these right away or you know, you can store them cool.

This is something and they can be winter sewn or whatever.

So I all spraying the Ibis I'm starting to save Columbine seed, I'm starting to save a lot of different seeds, just to be able to share them and have them so one thing I was able to find by net bags with with a pull string, like on my hellebores, I went around each the flower heads that were that actually had done seed and bagged and round and then tied and pull the the little cord at it and when they fall they're gonna fall into right into that bad So then I've got all my seats because I was having trouble timing it so that when they were when they were opening and so I was losing a lot of seats.

So I said well, I'm still on the plan.

So they're still growing.

They're They're mature.

Yeah, you can just hear it snap.

And again, the seed is white at first but it will it will change colors to kind of black color as it dries.

But you know these pods and I had hellebore Niger now these are all hellebore orientalist, but the Niger seed set earlier so that's already been stored to grow it and I have tremendous success with hellebores, some of the newer the newer varieties like the wedding or the hunting, I'm having trouble getting seats to Yeah, they're double.

Yeah.

So they they've lost some of that genetic potential to create the the abule and the stamen.

And instead, you just get more pet and I'm wondering even their hybrid, so I don't even know if I if I did get if I did get a few seeds, whether it would be true or not.

For the ones that recede.

Yeah, I don't know.

But for the ones that recede, they'll drop them underneath the plant and little babies.

Come on.

They've stayed true for me.

Okay.

All right, great.

John, we're gonna go to you.

We've got a fruit tree question.

This is from Pam, Bert Touka.

I've got fruit cheese, but I have to I'm concerned about one is about eight feet and an apple that's about six feet.

They're a bit spindly, are they at risk?

And so she's they sent a couple pictures in of the trees here.

So obviously, we're talking about cicadas and we've talked a lot about what they like to eat or not eat, but where they will lay their eggs.

So are these trees at risk?

Well, I saw other problems with you know, yes, they if we get the cicadas, like done in Africa, and I saw a picture where they're just covered with 1000s and they were that deep the skeletons.

And I saw I fought them with the with the trees in that the grass was growing right up to the trunk.

Yeah, you can see there's no no circle of bare ground there.

And grass can be Allelopathic to small fruit trees, especially.

Now, can you break that down?

What does that mean?

Allelopathic is there's a couple of ways that is Elliott means that it's going to slow or deter the growth of the other plant.

Black Walnut is a is one of those that is very Dougal own in that.

But as you can see an app that the you know, the grass is going to slow down the growth, it's going to do it by the you know the chemical that it releases into the ground, that slows down.

But it also was going to rob the nutrients and the water from the tree from being healthy.

And the other thing that we sign in both Elena has said that, you know you're going to possibly have some string trimmer damage or more damage along that.

And so the other thing and I don't know if you think that this is a problem, but that double branch on that one tree, whether that could be I think I would eliminate one because that's going to it looks like it's a very narrow crotch in there.

And, and well, again, when you when you buy these fruit trees, most of them are grafted.

Yeah.

And so when you see a double trunk like that, you begin to wonder that was never produced that way in the nursery, did a shoot a white sucker come up from below the graph, they may not be the same tree.

Yeah.

And so I would agree with John that if they flower at the same and everything, well, maybe you could keep them but it's quite narrow.

And usually apples depending on your your pruning cycle on what kind of pruning structure you want to create, whether you're going to top them out, or whether you're going to keep a a central leader, but you do have to kind of open them up.

And when you have to side by side, all these branches just cross and that's not good.

So getting back to the cicada problem.

Yes, you could that those and that might save them a little bit of damage, most of the time to cicadas unless we get a huge, huge amount.

There, they'll set them back but they're not going to to kill the tree.

But it was I think the bigger problem is the the grass and but you know if she wants to be sure being there ever distress from the grass, I would say she could get some netting and make sure that it's small enough that it keeps the cicadas out and then time at the bottom because they will come up out of the grass the most important part, make sure it's tied off at the bottom.

Okay, let's take a couple more questions.

We've got some invasive plant questions that you guys are both going to tackle together.

Let's do 60 Lily of the Valley.

This is from Carol.

She says that how do you ask how do you get rid of lily of the valley?

They're beautiful.

They smell nice when they're in bloom.

But after that, she says it turns into an ugly brown mess.

Also the plants seem to double every year.

Is there a way to stop this invasive guy so What are your thoughts for Carroll and Lily of the Valley?

Oh, for Llly of the valley, I have it, it's growing in an area under some trees.

And it does go through a late summer decline when it starts to get hot and dry.

But for me, it's more than I want to tackle and try to control.

So instead, I've kind of embraced that.

Now I did create a physical border with putting in a, a, a piece of metal edging.

And I thought, oh, yeah, anything that gets on the other side?

I'll, I'll, I'll stop it.

Well, again, some of these plants have very aggressive underground rise Artemus root systems that can send up these shoots.

And that's the way they spread.

And so the thing with Lilyof the valley is planting them in an area where they are physically contained and not being able to escape.

So between the House and the sidewalk, may be on the north side, that might be a good place for it.

But for example, in my timber area, this is now escaping.

Now, of course, I just live in town.

But imagine that this is in a more forest preserve or something, this would be a nightmare, you know, starting and so again, you can try digging it out, it's very difficult.

You can try smothering it, putting cardboard over the top and then some mulch.

And over time, you know, there might be some things that pop up on the edges.

And then of course, there are chemical systemic controls that you can investigate as well.

That leads us right into 61.

Robin Roth rights in help, how do I get rid of this plant that is growing out of control in my two flower beds?

I've tried pulling it out.

I've tried digging it out.

But I cannot get it all.

So she did not name this plant?

What is it?

And I see you've got some to Ella, what are some tips?

Well, this is Artemesia price step this.

And it's very, very difficult.

Oh, I thought it was bulgaris Well, we're not sure exactly the species Artemesia.

And once you have it, you're probably going to have unless you kill the whole area, because and the one thing that you don't want to do is till it till that area and hope that you're going to get it because kind of like quackgrass, every little route is going to put up, that's a whole new plant, it's not going to die back.

So it'll develop into a new plant, the only way you can do it is if you actually and she has heard it looks like a self contained area.

So she could like Ella said earlier with the Lilith Valley, cover that with you know, either black plastic and mulch shipped over it for three, four months to kill.

You know, the black plastic is also going to, if it's in a sunny area, going to cook it a little bit.

So it'll kill the it might kill it back a little bit other than just cardboard and mulch over that.

But you can also use an herbicide on this one.

And it's it's one of those things that, you know, she's got it in an area that actually is self contained.

So, you know, it's it's a pretty plant as far as I'm concerned.

And it has some herbal qualities to it.

But anything to add to that Ella.

Yeah, the one thing is that it is invasive because of its growth habit, but it is also non native.

So a lot of people are concerned about that.

It has kind of a double whammy in that it can recede.

So one trick for where she has it is usually they say in early July, you would just go in and cut it back again.

And that's actually what I did on my plant earlier this spring.

I cut it back with just a string trimmer.

And also where I have it, it's on a slope.

And part of that is mowed and of course this plant can't really survive well when it's mowed.

It's still you know in the grass a little bit but nothing problematic but I do cut the front of it back so that it's a little shorter.

And because of the variegated foliage, I found it attractive.

Unfortunately a lot of plants in my garden now at that I'm learning more about our environment and things are non native invasive.

This.

So for those, you plant collectors, whose why wisely and these turn up at plant sales because everybody has everybody's got an abundance, and then you make the mistake of not researching your plant material and the way it goes for a sick mind is not as thick.

I think mine is a little bit more shady.

So once it gets to about this height, I just pull it out.

And it comes back, you know, with no problem.

But I've got some other things in between it.

So I kind of resisted to this is something to just grow in a pot.

Yeah, yeah, it'd be in a pot, and then you can overwinter it in your garage or, you know, something like that if if, and especially because it they use this a lot.

The green form is dried for certain ritual, burning kind Daksha practices or whatever.

We've got about five minutes left, John, and you brought some Show and Tell so I would love for everyone to see those before we time.

This is is lavender lavender.

Thank you.

The reason I just wanted to make sure that a lot of people are planning it now and they have very bad luck.

Lavender does not like wet feet.

That's right.

Put it on a slope on a on a raised bed or something like that.

And it does very well here if you put it in the right conditions full sun.

And but the wet feet if it if it if it's water sitting on it for I say 12 hours even it's it's going to suffer the roots just tend to really rot and so Okay, yeah.

And for us, when we're growing lavender, we use a special soil mix, like we would use for a succulent and that it is able to drain because if you don't if you use those those high organic soils, they root rot, I brought peonies so everybody knows that the peonies are blooming right now.

And what they might not know is that you can store peonies now.

It's not like this, but my friend, Karen, who you all know, sent me a tic tock video about a woman who uses these bags from when you buy like a comforter or something as a mini greenhouse.

So I just to say would not be fun.

So you got a tip today that you can create your own mini greenhouse.

But the other tip that I have is that you can store for up to three months is what they say, these peonies, but they have to be, but when they're in the bud stage, and they kind of feel like a marshmallow.

And then what you're going to do is you're going to wrap them in newspaper, okay, so you've taken off some of the lower leaves, and they're going to be stored dry.

And, and this is before they open Yes, before they open so the flowers that I brought down here, you know are so then you take them and you wrap them in newspaper.

And you're gonna secure that with some tape.

And then they're going to go in a Ziploc bag.

And you're going to press out all the air.

And then this is just going to be put in your refrigerator.

And then over the next three months, when you want to have a bouquet, you can take them out, make a fresh cut, put them in some warm water and they should open up and oh, wow.

Of course this is how florists have peonies for weddings that might be in June when the peony season is over.

It amazes me that you can do that for three months but when I read that earlier and it I said oh surely but yes, you can.

They will Nice.

We've got about two minutes left anything else John you want to share with the with the class before we dismiss this is one of my hollyhocks and I had a lot of people questioning hollyhocks.

And this is this has had some insect damage or mine has been mentioned.

Yes.

Not flowery, and hollyhocks are biannual.

So they grow their roots in their feet the first year and then we'll Bill they'll bolt the next year so to speak, and flower and and lasts for the bloom for quite a few years after that, right because they continually reseed themselves.

So then you have created this succession of plants.

You have the two year old plants with the one year old plants, and they keep blooming.

And this is Mila podium.

And it is a butter Daisy.

This one here kind of got a little bit of sunburn.

But this is one of the has these beautiful little yellow flowers, and it'll Bloom from now until it freezes.

And I usually save the seeds.

It's a it's a true annual, so you have to save receipts or but it will receipt itself.

Lovely.

Okay, we're out of time it goes so fast.

Thank you guys so much for coming and sharing your time and talents and knowledge and thank you so much for watching.

Hope you learned a lot.

And we will see you next time on the next episode of Mid American gardener.

Good night.